Because I'm avoiding my chapter ...

Even in this southerly and coastal city, fall is making its way to an end. Evenings hover near freezing and I've taken to carrying (if not necessarily wearing) a hat and mittens. The trees are mostly bare and the leaves that still cling to branches have that pale, resilient look that speaks more of winter than fall.

In theory, I should be buckling down as well. A full draft of this chapter is due in just under a month. DH's new advisee writing group gave helpful feedback on the first half of my chapter when I was in C-U last week and I have big plans for revision, even if the second half of the chapter remains stubbornly unformed.

But, I am having trouble giving myself over to the work i know i need to do. The gritty work of putting paragraphs back together after I've torn them apart is daunting and there's a nagging fear that the re-constructed paragraphs will fall far short of my expectations.

So, I'm posting pictures of an earlier moment of autumn, when the fallen leaves were sun kissed and brilliant ... as if I could convince myself that I too was a bit brighter back then (i wasn't ... writing was just as slow ... but i'm beginning to think that dissertating is all about self delusion...).